Furious Greeks punished the two parties that have dominated politics for decades in the crisis-battered country, leaving its multi-billion dollar international bailout − and even its future in the euro currency − hanging in the balance.

Nobody won enough votes to form a government and the two parties that backed the bailout − the conservative New Democracy and socialist Pasok − conceded they need to win over adversaries to form a viable coalition.

“I understand the rage of the people, but our party will not leave Greece ungoverned,” said New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras.

Pasok, which has spent 21 years in government since 1981 and stormed to victory with more than 43 per cent in 2009, saw its support slashed to about 13.5 per cent. It will have just 41 seats, compared to 160 in the last election.

The two parties saw their support plummet to the lowest level since 1974, when Greece emerged from a seven-year dictatorship.

The outcome showed widespread public anger at the harsh austerity measures imposed over the past two years in return for rescue loans from other European Union countries and the International Monetary Fund.

Voters who deserted the two mainstays of Greek politics in droves headed to a cluster of smaller parties on both the left and right, including the extremist Golden Dawn, which rejects the neo-Nazi label and insists it is nationalist patriotic.

Nicolas Sarkozy